F-22 jet crashes in Florida during ‘routine’ training flight

A US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth jet takes off at a South Korean air base in Gwangju on December 4, 2017.
The US and South Korea on December 4 kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an “all-out provocation”, days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile. / AFP PHOTO / YONHAP / – / – South Korea OUT / NO ARCHIVES – RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE-/AFP/Getty Image

(CNN) — A US F-22 stealth fighter jet crashed during a “routine training flight” in Florida Friday, the Air Force said in a statement.

The pilot who has not been named was able to eject from the aircraft safely and was transported to a local hospital on Eglin Air Force Base “for observation and evaluation,” according to the Air Force.

“He is currently in stable condition,” the statement said.

The crash took place on a training range 12 miles northeast of the base and the Air Force said “there was no loss of life or civilian property damage related to the accident.”

The incident is under investigation.

The F-22 is considered one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

However the US military only has about 183 of the aircraft in its inventory, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

Each jet costs approximately $143 million and production of F-22s ceased in 2011 as the Pentagon focused instead on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Given the limited number of F-22s in the military’s inventory, the loss of a jet in a crash will have a significant impact.

Several F-22s stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida were damaged during Hurricane Michael in 2018.

Many of the jets were moved to Eglin due to the extensive damage Tyndall suffered during that storm.